Multicolor-printing.



Pa tp'ntd sept. 2, I902.

H. F. BECHMAN, nuLTlcoLon PRINTING.

(Application filed July 15, 1 901.)

2'Sheets-Sheot I.

(In Modal.)

n4: mums Fires: 0,. wnshmcron n I:

m. 708,00, Patented Sept. 2,1902.

' H. F. BECHMAN.

MULTICOL'UR PRINTING.

- V (Application filed July 15,71,901.) (N0 Modgl.)

2 Sheets-$heet 21 UNITED STATES HENRY F. BECHMAN, OF BATTLECREEK, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNCR TO THE.

PATENT OFFICE;

DUPLEX'PRINTING PRESS COMPANY, OF BATTLECREEK, MICHIGAN.

MULTICOLOR-PRIVNTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,012, dated September 2,1902. Application filed July 15,1901. Serial Nd. 681275. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. BECHMAN, of Battlecreek, in'the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan have invented certain newable anordinaryweb-press to be utilized for.

multicolor-printing without necessitating additional parts on the machine, or, in other words, to enable a multicolored perfected sheet to be produced at each operation of an ordinary web-press as rapidly as it can produce the one-color products; but when producing multicolor-work the press willoperate on webs not overhalf as wide as it is ordinarily adapted to work upon in plain perfecting-work. a

The invention is especially applicable to fiat-bed perfecting-presses and in the accompanying drawings is illustrated as applied to one of the well-known Cox duplex flat-bed type perfecting-presses, but is not restricted to such application. I

The invention consists, briefly, in the novel method of threading the web repeatedly through the press, so that the same web is passed twice or more through each printingcouple or twice between each bed and cylinder in the Cox press before it is delivered, thereby enabling two registered impressions to be produced on each face of the web in its passage through the machine, such impressions being made at different times and from difierentforms, which may besupplied with different colofs,"thereby' prod ucing a' multicolored paper. i

The invention ther'efore consists in the;

novel'method of threading the web repeatedly through the press, as hereinafter claimed, and I will now proceed to describe the invention with referenceto the accompanying draw ings, which illustrate the invention as applied to a Cox duplex press, Figure 1 being a diagrammatical longitudinal sectional elevation of such press;- Fig; 2, a top plan view of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section on line 3 3, Fig. 1.

In said drawings, h 'n designate-superimposed type-beds, andrl 0 the impression-cylinders cooperating therewith. b b are the infeed-rolls; s s, the outfeed or delivery rolls; 6 'r, the movable looping-rollers; f, in, l, q, u, a, y, and z are stationary web-guides, and g j and pm are movable web-guides at opposite sides of the'respecti've cylinders.

t is an adjustable web-guide.

'v ware angle-rollers; F, the former of the folding mechanism.

H- H designate ink-fountains at opposite ends of each bed, adapted to supply ink to the inking-rollers KK at opposite sides'of each impression-cylinder.

The foregoing mechanismsare or may be all constructed and adapted to operate as in the well-known Cox duplex combined press and angle-bar folder, the press being constructed substantially as shown and described in Patent No. 478,503, granted to J. L. Cox July 5, 1892. It is therefore unnecessary to give a more detailed explanation thereof. In

the ordinary operation of such press theweb is led from theroll a through feeding-rolls I), up over looping-roller c, then under guide f, to andlover guide 9, then between cylinder 1; and-.bed h, thence over guides j kl m, then between bed at and cylinder 0, thence over guides p 1, down under looper 1', up to delivery-rolls s, and then toithe former F, or the web may be split after passing rolls 8 and one-half thereof led over angle-bars o w and guide a: to former F. This mechanism produces a perfected sheet at each operation, as fully described in the aforesaidpatent, the web receiving one impression from forms on bed It and a perfectingimpression from forms on bed 01, but in one color only-on each face.

or side. In order to produce multicolor impressions on the web in such a press, I emare made up, one for each color, as usual in multicolor printing, and these forms are placed upon the beds, thefprms for the same sides or pages of the web being placed on the same beds. For example, the forms for printing the obverse faces of the web are placed on the lower bed h and the forms for printing the reverse or perfected sides of the web are placed on the upper bed 91. As indicated in Fig. 3, four forms are placed on bed h, forms 10 11 at the left-hand side being black, form 12 red,and form 13 blue. A similar number of forms are placed on the upper bed, forms 14 and 15 being black, form 16 green,and form 17 yellow. The colors mentioned are those to be applied to the respective forms. This arrangement will produce perfected sheets in five colors namely, black, red, blue, green, and yellow and by superimposing these colors other shades may be produced, as well known in multicolor-printing. The different-colored inks are supplied from the same fountains H, the latter being divided by blocks into the desired number of compartments, each containing the desired color ink. In the example given each lower ink-fountain H would contain compartments for black,red, and blue inks, respectively, while each upper inkfountain H would contain compartments for black, green, and yellow inks, respectively. The only change in the ordinary Cox duplex press required by this multicolor arrangement is blocking-off the fountains and moving the leather feed-tapes from the drive side to the plain side of the press. A web of, say, half the usual Width is then placed in the machine andis led from roll a through rolls b, over looper e, under guide f, over guide g, under cylinderi, so as to be presented thereby to forms 10 and 11 on bed It, thence up over guidef, back under guide 7;, over guides land m, under cylinder 0, so as to be presented to forms 14 and 15 on bed at, thence over guides 5 p and q, under looper r to delivery-rollers s,

following thus far the ordinary course of the web through the press and being perfected in black ink-for example, from forms 10, 11, 14, and 15, the first impression being made in black on the length of web marked 1 in the drawings, the second impression being also made in black on the length of web marked 2 in the drawings. From roll 3 the Web is led down under adjusting-roller t, thence over guide to, under and over the angle-bars o w, by which it is deflected to one side of its former path, and this portion of the Web (indicated at 3) is then carried under guide as, over guide y, back to and over guide it, passing in a direction contrary to length 2 and then descending to the feed-roll I), passing thence up over roller 6 and then again through the press, exactly as previously described, back to the roll 8, the third impression being made in colors on the length 4 of the web from forms 12 and 13 on bed h, and the fourth impression being made on length 5 of the web in colors from forms 16 and 17 on bed 11.. It will be noticed that length 4 of the web is parallel with length 1 and length 5 of the web is parallel with length 2, as shown, and impressions are taken simultaneously from all the forms at each operation of the press and at four different points in the length of the Web. After reaching rolls the second time the web is led out to guide 2, as indicated at 6, and then to the folder or former F. It will be observed that the Web is passed twice through the press between the feed and delivery, being returned after the first perfected impression to receive another perfected impression in colors, the two lengths of web in the press traveling therethrough alike and operated together by the same feed and delivery mechanism. When through with color-printing, the pressman has only to clean the fountains and rolls and supply black ink, and the ordinary fullwidth web can be perfected by the press in one color, as before.

This method of threading the web can be applied to other constructions of press, as will be readily comprehended by those skilled in the art, to enable such presses to produce multicolor-work,'and, if desired, a special 9 press can be made on this principle to print larger multicolored webs or sheets.

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is

1. The herein-described method of printing and perfecting a multicolor-sheet on an ordinary press, consisting in arranging pageforms for multicolored pages side by side transversely of the press in each printing mechanism, of a press having a plurality of printing mechanisms, providing the proper color inksupply for each form on each printing mechanism, and leading the web successively through both printing mechanisms over one set of page-forms therein to perfect the web and immediately returning the web through both sets of printing mechanisms over the other set of page-forms therein, the impressions taken from the different forms in each printing mechanism being superimposed, all substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The herein-described method of printing a multicolored perfected sheet in a traveling-cylinder perfecting-press, consisting in arranging the different-color page-forms for the same page or pages on the same bed side by side and transversely of the press, providing suitable colored ink-supplies for the respective color-forms, leading the web through the press successively over one set of pageforms on each bed to perfect the web, and immediately returning the web through the feeding and printing mechanisms of the press first series of impressions taken from the In presence offirst forms thereon, for the purpose and sub- F. W. DUNNING, stantially as described. CHAS. A. GRAMES.

"708,012 p l r. 8

parallel with its first lead and over the other In testimony that I claim the foregoing as set of page-forms on each bed, the second semy own I aflix'my signature in presence'of ries of impressions taken from the second two witnesses. forms on the beds being superimposed on the HENRY F. BECHMAN. 

